The Just Judges

It is believed that the panel shows portraits of several contemporary figures such as Philip the Good, and possibly the artists Hubert and Jan van Eyck themselves.

[5] In an act of good faith, the ransomer returned one of the panel's two parts (a grisaille painting of St John the Baptist).

[4] On 25 November 1934 the self-proclaimed thief, Arsène Goedertier, revealed on his deathbed to his lawyer that he was the only one who knew where the masterpiece was hidden, and that he would take the secret to his grave.

Several people have claimed to know its whereabouts and extensive searches have been held to locate it including an X-ray of the whole cathedral to a depth of 10 metres (33 ft).

In order to harmonize his copy with the appearance of the other panels of the Ghent Altarpiece, Van der Veken applied a layer of wax to create a similar patina.

Van der Veken subtly indicated that his work was a copy by giving one of the horsemen the facial features of the then Belgian king Leopold III.